What's the Difference Between a Dash, Hyphen, En Dash, and Em Dash?

Today, we’re tackling one of the more delightful intricacies of the grammatical universe: the world of dashes. 

Dashes come in three lengths: hyphens (-), en dashes (–), and em dashes (—). Generally, their lengths are indicative of how much “work” they have to do—in other words, the types of things that they’re joining together.

The hyphen—the shortest of the bunch—connects what the Chicago Manual of Style describes as “two things that are intimately related, usually words that function together as a single concept or work together as a joint modifier.” Some examples include phrases like: one-third, father-in-law, and fine-dining restaurant.

En dashes connect things that denote any sort of range, whether that’s in the form of distance, time, or amounts. For example: it’d be a April–June issue of a magazine, or pages 50–55, or 5–6 tablespoons. An en dash is also used when a joint modifier—like the “fine dining” in “fine-dining restaurant”—contains an open compound or a many-worded proper noun. (An open compound is made when an adjective and noun are combined to make a whole new noun, such as dining room, ice cream, full moon, etc.) So in the case of a phrase like “a living room–sized rug” or “a Brette Warshaw–style outfit,” you’d use an en-dash, since it’s doing the extra work of carrying an additional word along for the ride. 

Finally, an em dash has many jobs. First off, it serves as a way to insert a separate thought or phrase into a sentence—like this. It also can stand in for something that is missing or left out, such as in a bibliography; instead of repeating an author’s name over and over, for example, three em dashes can stand in for it, with the rest of the bibliographic information coming afterwards. Em dashes can also serve as bullet points in any type of list.

I’ll stop us here, but if you’re interested in learning more about the wonderful world of dashes, I highly recommend checking out Chapter 6 in the Chicago Manual of Style.

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What's the Difference Between Seltzer, Club Soda, and Sparkling Mineral Water?

We all love our Pellegrino and LaCroix and the various fancy and non-fancy bubbly waters in between, but what are we actually drinking? Turns out there are marked differences in the various waters con gas we have available to us in these glorious times. 

Let’s start with the most basic: seltzer. Seltzer is just plain ol’ water, carbonated with added carbon dioxide. This is the bubbly stuff that’s most likely to come flavored, since it’s such a neutral canvas; it’s the base for your LaCroix and those less-delicious Poland Spring flavored guys you get at the bodega. 

Club soda is also carbonated with carbon dioxide, but unlike seltzer, it has the addition of potassium bicarbonate and potassium sulfate in the water. These minerals give it a slightly saltier taste than seltzer, which makes it a favorite of bartenders for mixed drinks. 

Sparkling mineral water is made with natural spring or well water, which means it has naturally occurring minerals (like salts and sulphur compounds) in it. These minerals sometimes give the water a natural carbonation; other times, carbon dioxide is added for extra oomph. Depending on where the water’s from, it might taste heavier than seltzer or club soda—or you may just detect some sort of presence of taste, unlike its more-tasteless brethren. 

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What's the Difference Between Tornadoes, Hurricanes, and Typhoons?

As one might know from the Wizard of Oz or seventh-grade science class, tornadoes form over land, most commonly over the Central Plains in the spring or early summer, when moist, warm air from the Gulf of Mexico meets the cold, dry continental air coming from the Northwest. Compared to hurricanes and typhoons, they’re rather small and short-lived: the largest tornadoes are about one to one-and-a-half miles in diameter, and they rarely will travel more than six miles. The average life span of a tornado is approximately ten minutes. 

Both hurricanes and typhoons are the same type of storm; they’re the highest level of what scientists call a “tropical cyclone,” which is defined by the National Ocean Service as “a rotating, organized system of clouds and thunderstorms that originates over tropical or subtropical waters and has closed, low-level circulation.” The difference between the two lies only in where the storm originates; anything over the northwest Pacific is a typhoon, and anything over the North Atlantic, central North Pacific, and eastern North Pacific is a hurricane. (For storms over the South Pacific and Indian Ocean, the general term “tropical cyclone” is used.) Tropical depressions and tropical storms are less-intense versions of their brethren; a storm’s winds must be at least 74 miles per hour in order to be placed in the hurricane/typhoon category. And unlike smaller-scale tornadoes, hurricane and typhoons can be 60 to 1000 miles in diameter; can last for several days; and can travel thousands of miles. 

Some more fun facts:

• Hurricanes always rotate counterclockwise in the Northern hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern hemisphere. Tornadoes usually spin in the same manner, though there can be rare “anticlyconic” tornadoes that spin in the opposite direction.
• Hurricanes, typhoons, and tornadoes all have eyes: an area of mostly calm weather in the center of the storm. The most violent conditions are in the “eyewall,” the area directly surrounding the eye.
• A tornado that forms over water is called a “waterspout.” 

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What's the Difference Between an Ale and a Lager?

Experientially, the difference between a lager and an ale can be explained with brands of beer everybody knows: lagers are the crisp, thirst-quenching yellow beers like Budweiser and the like; ales are richer/more full-flavored beers that include pale ales (like Sierra Nevada) and everything else that isn't golden and clear (including Guinness, stouts, IPAs, and beers that nerdy college guys tend to prefer). 

While there are many many variables in beer making—including the kind of grains the beer is based on (Budweiser has rice in it!) and the quantity and kind of hops (craft beers, mostly ales, favor "fruity" hops that tend often have a hint of weed flavor to them), the functional difference between the two categories is in the kind of yeast used to make them. 

Ales are made with top-fermenting yeasts that work at warmish temperatures; lagers are made with bottom-fermenting yeasts that need the liquid they're fermenting to be cold and still for a longish time. That's why lagers are called lagers—it comes from the German word "lagern," which means "to store." Lagers were originally fermented in caves in cold months and drunk in the spring, when the weather warmed up and the yeast was done with its job. 

The advent of refrigeration and the general thirst-quenching quality of lagers have made them the dominant global style of beer. The reason craft breweries almost exclusively produce ales is because the time and storage requirements to make quality lagers is a much bigger cash suck than ales, which can be fermented, hopped, and canned in just a few weeks. 

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What's the Difference Between Great Britain, England, and the United Kingdom?

Whip out your maps, folks. Let’s start with pure geography: Great Britain (also known as Britain) is an island in between the North Sea and the English Channel. Ireland is an island to the west of Britain. Both Great Britain and Ireland are a part of the British Isles, a group of over 6,000 islands off the northwestern coast of Europe.

Things get complicated when we start talking politics. The island of Great Britain is made up of the countries of England, Wales, and Scotland. The island of Ireland is made up of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Two islands: three countries on one, two on the other. Got it? Let's move on.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, or the United Kingdom for short, is a sovereign state made up of the countries of England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland (so: all countries on the island of Great Britain, plus Northern Ireland from the island of Ireland). All of the countries in the United Kingdom are run by Parliament and are bound to the crown, though the Parliament delegates some decision-making to the Scottish Parliament, the Assemblies of Wales, Northern Ireland, and London, or to local authorities for “devolved matters” such as education and housing. 

The Republic of Ireland, however, operates as a separate sovereign state and has its own relationships with the European Union, the United Nations, and other international organizations. It gained independence from what was once the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (now the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) in 1922. 

Here’s a handy map from Encyclopedia Britannica to help illustrate all of this: 

So, in sort: Great Britain (or Britain) is an island; England is a country on the island of Great Britain; and the United Kingdom is a sovereign state made up of the countries of Great Britain—England, Wales, and Scotland—and Northern Ireland. 

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What's the Difference Between Caramel, Butterscotch, Dulce de Leche, and Cajeta?

Caramel, butterscotch, dulce de leche, and cajeta: all are sweet, golden, syrupy concoctions that are delicious things to eat. However, according to Mark Bittman’s How to Bake Everything and pastry chef Stella Parks over at Serious Eats, there are marked differences between the four:  

Caramel is made from slowly cooking down granulated sugar, simply by itself or with a splash of water. As the sugar melts and cooks, the caramel gets richer and toastier, and the color goes from a pale gold to a dark amber. 

Butterscotch is made from cooking down brown sugar with butter, and its flavor is sweeter and softer than that of caramel.

Dulce de leche is made from slowly cooking cow milk and sugar together. Dulce de leche made with goat milk is known as cajeta. They're cooked at a lower temperature than caramel, and their golden color comes not from the caramelization of sugar, but from the browning of the lactose and lysine in the milk (also known as the Maillard reaction). Thanks to this technique, they have a more mellow, nuttier, and complex taste than their cousins. 

Both dulce de leche and cajeta can also sometimes include baking soda, which balances out the pH of milk (which is slightly acidic) and speeds up the Maillard reaction. (To read more on this topic, I highly recommend this article.)

So, in short:

granulated sugar —> caramel
brown sugar + butter —> butterscotch
cow milk + sugar + baking soda —> dulce de leche
goat milk + sugar + baking soda —> cajeta

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What's the Difference Between a Lawyer and Attorney?

In the United States, the terms “lawyer” and “attorney” are usually used interchangeably. 

However, according to LawyerEdu, there is a small—but important—distinction. A lawyer is someone who has graduated law school, whereas an attorney is a lawyer who has passed the bar exam and is licensed to practice law in a given jurisdiction. 

An attorney is legally qualified to practice law in court; a lawyer may or may not. All attorneys are lawyers, but all lawyers are not attorneys. 

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What's the Difference Between Whiskey, Whisky, Scotch, Bourbon, and Rye?

 Lots to unpack here. The basics, according to Encyclopedia Britannica:

Whiskey (or whisky) can be any of a variety of distilled liquors that are made from a fermented mash of cereal grains and aged in wooden containers, which are usually constructed of oak. Commonly used grains are corn, barley malt, rye, and wheat. 

The difference between whiskey and whisky is where the stuff is made: in the United States and Ireland, it’s spelled “whiskey”; in Scotland, Canada, and Japan, it’s “whisky.”
 
Whiskey vs. Whisky ✅
 
Now, for the differences between Scotch, bourbon, and rye. Back to Encyclopedia Britannica:

Scotch is a whisky (no e) that gets its distinctive smoky flavor from the process in which it is made: the grain, primarily barley, is malted and then heated over a peat fire. A whisky cannot be called Scotch unless it is entirely produced and bottled in Scotland.
 
Bourbon, a whiskey that was first produced in Kentucky, U.S., uses at least 51% mash from corn in its production. It also uses a sour mash process—that is, the mash is fermented with yeast and includes a portion from a mash that has already been fermented. U.S. regulations specify that in order for a whiskey to be called bourbon, it must be made in the United States.
 
And rye whiskey? It’s a whiskey that uses a rye mash or a rye and malt mash. In the United States, regulations stipulate that the mash must be at least 51% rye in order for it to be called rye whiskey. In Canada, regulations do not specify a minimum percentage of rye. 

Flavor-wise, Scotch is smoky, bourbon is sweet, and rye is more astringent than the two others, making it particularly suitable to cocktails.  
 
Scotch vs. Bourbon vs. Rye ✅

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What's the Difference Between Soil and Dirt?

For today’s answer, we’re turning to Patrick Megonigal, an ecosystem ecologist at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. According to Megonigal, as told to Science News, soil is:

the compilation of minerals, air, water, animals and other living matter (and their wastes or decaying bodies) that accumulate in layers and become compacted over time. 

These layers—or “horizons”—are defined as the topsoil, subsoil, and parent soil.
 
And dirt? Megonigal defines dirt as “displaced soil.”
 
Huh? How could that be? I checked in with Frank R. Spellman’s book Contaminated Sediments in Freshwater Systems, and he agrees:

Dirt is misplaced soil—soil where we don’t want it, contaminating our hands or clothes, tracked in on the floor.

So there you have it, folks. Everything is subjective. Nothing is real. Dirt is just displaced soil. Happy Tuesday!

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What's the Difference Between a Sweet Potato and a Yam?

For today’s answer, we’re turning to Harold McGee’s On Food and Cooking. According to McGee:

The sweet potato is the true storage root of Ipomoea batatas, a member of the morning glory family. It is native to northern South America, and may have reached Polynesia in prehistoric times. Columbus brought the sweet potato to Europe, and by the end of the 15th century it was established in China and the Philippines. China now produces and consumes far more sweet potatoes than the Americas, enough to make it the second most important vegetable worldwide.

There are many different varieties, ranging from dry and starchy varieties common in tropical regions, some pale and others red or purple with anthocyanins, to the moist, sweet version, dark orange with beta-carotene, that is popular in the United States and was confusingly named a “yam” in 1930s marketing campaigns.

Did you hear that? What we think of as a “yam” here in the United States is actually a sweet potato. Back to McGee:

True yams are starchy tubers of tropical plants that are related to the grasses and lilies, a dozen or so cultivated species of Dioscorea from Africa, South America, and the Pacific with varying sizes, textures, colors, and flavors. They are seldom seen in mainstream American markets, where “yam” means a sugary orange sweet potato. True yams can grow to 100 lb/50 kg and more, and in the Pacific islands have been honored with their own little houses. They appear to have been cultivated as early as 8000 BCE in Asia.

SO, in short: sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) and true yams (species of the Dioscorea family) are completely different plants. Both species are old; both are tubers; both come in various textures and colors. And to add to the confusion, if you’re in a grocery store in the United States, what is labeled a “yam” is most likely a sweet potato. You may have never actually eaten a true yam, which you are more likely to encounter in international or specialty markets and in African and South American cuisines.

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What's the Difference Between a Sociopath and a Psychopath?

To answer today's question, we’re turning to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) and Encyclopedia Britannica. Sociopathy and psychopathy are both defined in the DSM as types of anti-social personality disorders, which are characterized by a “pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others.” 
 
When it comes to the differences between the two conditions, Encyclopedia Britannica writes:

Among persons who display APD, those called psychopaths are distinguished by a nearly complete inability to form genuine emotional attachments to others; a compensating tendency to form artificial and shallow relationships, which the psychopath cynically exploits or manipulates to benefit himself; a corresponding ability to appear glib and even charming to others; an ability in some psychopaths to maintain the appearance of a normal work and family life; and a tendency to carefully plan criminal activities to avoid detection. 
 
Sociopaths, in contrast, are generally capable of developing a close attachment to one or a few individuals or groups, though they too generally have severe difficulties in forming relationships. Sociopaths are also usually incapable of anything even remotely resembling a normal work or family life, and, in comparison to psychopaths, they are exceptionally impulsive and erratic and more prone to rage or violent outbursts. Accordingly, their criminal activities tend to be spur-of-the-moment rather than carefully premeditated. 

How about nature vs. nurture? Environmental and biological factors play a role in the makeup of both the sociopath and psychopath. However, according to Encyclopedia Britannica,

It is generally agreed that psychopathy is chiefly a genetic or inherited condition, notably related to the underdevelopment of parts of the brain responsible for emotional regulation and impulse control. The most-important causes of sociopathy, in contrast, lie in physical or emotional abuse or severe trauma experienced during childhood.

In short: "Psychopaths are born, and sociopaths are made."

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